Conventionally, a dispersing device has been known that has a rotor that rotates at a high speed and a stationary stator. It continuously disperses liquids or powdery substances in a slurry by means of a high shearing force that is generated by the rotor and stator when the liquids or the slurry flows through a narrow gap between the rotor and stator (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-153167). The term “disperse” used herein means to make powdery substances in a slurry finer and make them be uniformly distributed, to make powdery substances in a slurry be uniformly distributed, or to mix a plurality of liquids to cause them to be homogeneous.
The dispersing device that is disclosed in that publication disperses the liquids or the powdery substances in the slurry by means of a shearing force that is generated between the rotor and stator. By the conventional device the power to disperse cannot be adjusted, and so it is difficult to obtain a suitable dispersion.
For example, if the power to disperse is low, an intended dispersed state cannot be achieved or the process takes too much time. However, if the viscosity of a mixture is too high, the power to disperse the mixture must be so high that the temperature of the mixture rises too much. Further, when a mixture with a high viscosity is dispersed by a conventional dispersing device some of the mixture remains in the device, so that the yield becomes worse.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a dispersing device, a dispersing system, and a process for dispersing that achieve an appropriate dispersion, such as having a good yield, such as processing within an appropriate temperature range, and such as having a high power to disperse.